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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24061393">radio ecstatic</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/constellnation/pseuds/constellnation'>constellnation</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Last Kids on Earth (Cartoon)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 18:46:51</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,081</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24061393</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/constellnation/pseuds/constellnation</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Jack and June have a uneven reminder of what's happend and what's to come.<br/>But there's always one concern you can't cover on your own- no matter how hard you try: your crush.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>June Del Toro/Jack Sullivan</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>52</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>radio ecstatic</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>you're mainly reading this because you ship Jack and June, or because you're just a huge fan of the cartoon on Netflix. i guess i classify for both reasons.<br/>in any case, enjoy the fanfiction! ;)</p><p> </p><p>disclaimer: i don't own 'The Last Kids on Earth'.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>I am definitely not getting anywhere right now.</p><p>I thought that all my days of worrying were over, that I wouldn’t have to think about keeping my ‘non-family’ family safe and completing an unnecessary bestiary. Thrull was long gone, and somewhere far away - in a place I didn't have to think about – he’s probably still recovering from the epic, awesome and bone-crushing battle we had against him.</p><p>The Ultimate Feat, where I, Jack Sullivan, with the help of my friends, Quint, June and Dirk, manage to defeat the <em>almighty</em> (well, not completely <em>almighty</em>) Thrull, who’s ‘weed-body’ wasn’t going to survive the heat we lashed out that day.</p><p>It was <em>only</em> 80° outside– but you know what I mean.</p><p>You could say that I’m not someone who keeps hanging on to old stuff, hoping that it’ll grow or something; but for some reason, I somehow only seem to care about that kind of “development” at the moment.</p><p>And at the moment, the only thing– or well, actually, <em>person</em>, I haven’t been able to talk about without making it awkward, is <em>June Del Toro</em>.</p><p>Don’t get me wrong, I still like her. Like,<em> like-like</em> her. But I’m not sure if she likes the like-liking, which is exactly why I have avoided her for — one, two, three...<br/>
— <em>exactly</em> twelve hours.<br/>
It’s not a “feat”. I’m just trying to survive her devil-eyed stare and her seriousness, and everything that makes June – well, <em>June</em>.<br/>
If I don’t take this seriously, I could end up being fatally crushed instead of crushed upon.</p><p>There’s a <em>slight</em> difference.</p><p>I still really don't want to ignore her.</p><p>June has some kind of <em>atmosphere</em> around her; like, strong and thoughtful, but at the same time; extremely funny and like-able. </p><p>Describing her as dainty and sweet was <em>maybe</em> a bad idea, because she told me straight up that she wasn’t a damsel in distress and didn’t need rescuing.<br/>
And I have to respect that.<br/>
But, otherwise, she’s this awesome, reckless kind of girl with enough sass to last you a lifetime.<br/>
Also she smells like French vanilla, which really drives me crazy. You’d say it wouldn’t suit someone like her, but she makes it work.</p><p>June makes everything work.</p><p>Like, back when we still had school, June was editor of the school-newspaper. A very bossy, ambitious kind of editor, but that only made me like her even more. To this day, I can still hear her shouting: “THIS ISSUE ISN’T GOING TO WRITE ITSELF, PEOPLE!”.<br/>
<br/>
In other news, it was clear that she wasn’t humbled by me joining the school-newspaper club at all. I really shouldn’t have pushed it, but how was I supposed to know she’d end up hating me more?</p><p>June doesn’t even look happy anymore, because all she can talk about are her parents and her house that we accidentally demolished and the fact that we can’t seem to reach out to our families.<br/>
Well, their families. I don’t have one, unless you’d count this one in the treehouse, with Quint and June and Dirk.<br/>
I know she doesn’t ‘owe me her happiness’, but the only thing keeping our treehouse together is our friendship, which is profoundly based on kindness and genuine joy. If there are things that make June smile, I hope I make the list.</p><p>But we don’t actually know how to get to those other survivors in New York. It seems far away and scary and not in my comfort zone to leap out amongst these zombies and head towards the Statue Of Liberty. Right after we defeat the big-boss? That’s not going to happen.<br/>
Why can’t it come to us? A month passed over here, and the radio still isn’t picking up any signals.</p><p>So, you see, I am definitely not getting anywhere right now.</p>
<hr/><p>I didn’t know that I’d end up thinking like this.<br/>
For months, I’ve been keeping my mind occupied with all sorts of insane stuff: zombie parades, monsters and dimension portals, it really just piles on every time he puts us in some kind of situation.</p><p>And by he, I mean Jack Sullivan.<br/>
The only kid who’d think I was a ‘damsel in distress’ and needed rescuing. The only kid who thought that Mission Operation was a cool nickname for every feat or quest we went on.<br/>
The only kid I’d actually want to talk to right now.</p><p>I mean, I’ve been sitting next to this radio for about one, two, three...<br/>
— twelve hours. Everyone’s gotten tired of me talking about the survivors in New York, so they’re all out doing the necessary or unnecessary things they would normally be doing anyway.<br/>
All I’m hoping for that the signals are strong enough to transmit <em>something,</em> so I can hear those survivors again.</p><p>
  <em>Is that really too much to ask?</em>
</p><p>The last time we stumbled upon the thing was more than a week ago- when we were racing through Wakefield- and I can still remember the same words that had been spoken through the transmitter.</p><p>-HELLO?...WE ARE SURVIVORS...IF YOU...STATUE OF LIBERTY....NEW YORK...CONTACT AGAIN...ON THE —</p><p>And then it had just stopped; but I've obviously still not gotten all the information out of that kind of message after just <em>one</em> listen. It would be too easy for us.</p><p>I know that part of it is in my head, and that there’s not much I can do about it, but there’s got to be something out there- someone. I hope my parents are safe, and that I don’t have to worry about them being eaten by brainless zombies.</p><p>The tension in the treehouse is completely gone, because I guess I don’t care who enters or leaves, I’m not going to let this radio disappear out of my sight.<br/>
I’m not in the mood to lose hope, although all I’m concentrating about is <em>one</em> person.</p><p>He won’t leave my mind, but won’t entirely stay, either. It’s like I have to keep thinking about Jack to keep him around, even when he isn’t here and when he’s gone out on a quest to “save the world” without telling us (which is just a quest to go and buy food for Rover). Or when he leaves the treehouse to go into Joe Pizza’s next-door, and Quint and Dirk run to me, visibly worried and thinking that <em>I’d</em> know where he was.</p><p>I should never have told them that I think that Jack’s heart is in the right place. They keep annoying me about it when his back is turned- that I'm his sweetheart and his "best friend forever" and that I shouldn't risk anything, because it'll end up like a relationship-trope from a Hallmark movie.</p><p>I think it's just enough if I say that I <em>‘like-like’</em> him.<br/>
Well, I mean- I can’t really say I don’t- but- uh—<br/>
I’m just trying to keep it <em>professional</em>.</p><p>It’s stupid to say that I <em>think</em> that his heart is in the right place. Because I <em>know</em> it is.<br/>
I do realize that he’s awfully weird and tactful when it comes to his feats and quests, and I sometimes can’t handle his dorkiness and his awkwardness, but that’s just a part of him that makes Jack- well, <em>Jack</em>.<br/>
<br/>
If I don’t stop thinking about him like this, this could end with him completely taking over my mind. I know that sounds extremely possessive and creepy- but I really don’t know how to put it any other way.</p><p>Still, Jack has a <em>different</em> kind of personality than I’m used to seeing all the time; he <em>can</em> be heroic and strong-willed and responsible all at the same time, if you’d ignore his dork-like-character. But ignoring that character in him is like missing out on the most special part of him altogether.<br/>
He’s this awesome and funny guy with some kind of daring trigger in him.</p><p>Which doesn’t come from him trying to rescue me. <em>The rescuing I don’t ever need.</em></p><p>But somehow, he still makes everything work.</p><p>Like, when we first fought all these bestiary-monsters. He showed his way of thinking, his (sometimes wonky) fighting skills, and then I knew that someone like him was capable of good things – great things. I then knew that I could trust him.</p><p>Or when he took us to my house, thinking it would impress me.<br/>
It didn’t, but the way he said that he wanted me – that he wanted all of us to be happy, I didn’t really know what to say to that.</p><p>Happiness is extremely subjective, but if anything could make me happy; it’s this radio, telling me there are people who are alive out there.<br/>
So, you see, I’m still sitting here, on the couch, with this unbearably silent machine— hoping it’ll ‘activate’ in some way, giving me the answers to my questions.</p><p>And, I’ve still not really gotten anywhere.<br/>
<br/>
</p>
<hr/><p>Tracing circles with her finger on the couch, she silently rested her head on top of the radio. That <em>could’ve</em> hurt, but she didn’t seem to care- she was too preocupied with thinking about people and places and things she still had to meet and try and experience.</p><p>All she wanted— needed, was a signal, some kind of sign to tell her that her parents were alive and well.<br/>
It almost made June sigh in utter frustration, but she decided to keep herself quiet. So quiet, that she hadn’t noticed someone else enter the living space of the treehouse.</p><p>Jack. Jack Sullivan.</p><p>The boy she was thinking about, just a few minutes ago. <em>Didn't she want to talk to him at that time too?</em><br/>
He stood there, in the doorway, observing her on the couch. He’d never seen her that silent, which was not even an exaggeration compared to all the dumbfounding moments the four of them had experienced in the past few months.<br/>
“June?” he politely asks, moving closer to the couch. He tried to keep his voice down, trying not to make it sound overemphasized. “How’s it going?”<br/>
<br/>
Or annoying and pushy.</p><p>“What’s up, dork.” she says, ignoring his last question.<br/>
It had almost made him laugh- only if the situation hadn’t been as watered out as that first reply from her.</p><p>“<em>Fun name</em>.” he chuckles, running a hand through his hair. “I meant, what’s up with the radio-pillow?” Jack asks, pointing to the black, hard-plastic machine under June’s cheek.<br/>
It was a whole lot bigger than her face, but he wasn’t going to point that out. Not when she looked extremely tired and worn out and—<br/>
<br/>
“This thing?”, she quickly replies, cutting through all the descriptive words in his mind and realizing that she'd been resting her face on top of a radio.<br/>
<em>A radio.</em></p><p>It really made her look like someone filled with too much hope on their first try, a person who thought that the solution seemed an inch away; because it looked incredibly weird to cling onto a transmitter as if it was a support line.<br/>
<br/>
She sat up, trying to brush the loose strands of hair out of her face <em>and</em> trying to wipe the guilt off of her face at the same time.<br/>
The kind of guilt that was sort of already known, but not spoken or asked about yet. The guilt that, in this situation, said: “<em>I have to know if there are people out there.</em>”</p><p>No, that wasn’t an option. In a typical 'June-fashion', she’d deny it until <em>that</em> wasn’t possible any longer, because then she’d <em>have</em> to tell the truth.<br/>
But, no; the contradicting always came first.</p><p>“I’m just- just sitting here. With the radio. <em>For no apparent reason</em>.”, she quickly replies, shrugging her shoulders and trying to not make it look like a big deal— which it really wasn’t.</p><p>This made Jack raise an eyebrow. He wasn’t – he <em>isn’t</em> stupid. Sure, he could overlook innumerable things; but he knew when something was up, when it didn’t feel right or looked out of place.</p><p>Like June had said before, his <em>heart</em> was in the right place.</p><p>“No, you’re not. I know you’re waiting for them to send out another signal— the survivors from New York.”<br/>
June scoffed. “No, I’m not.”</p><p>“Yes, you are.”<br/>
“I am not.”<br/>
“You are.”<br/>
“Not.”<br/>
“Are.”</p><p>This kind of fight would have gone on for ages. Neither of them could deny that they didn’t have that kind of time to waste –<br/>
they had all the time in the world, but that was far from the point – so June gave in.</p><p>He looked as surprised as her when she said: “Okay, you win.”, and then begrudgingly frowned her eyebrows at him, trying not to roll her eyes, or to disapprovingly shake her head.</p><p>Jack sat down next to her, on the other side of the couch - so he was still facing her - and tried not to look her directly in the eyes. If he did, or even tried to, he’d lose his concentration- and he knew that that wasn’t part of this.<br/>
This was about June, not him.</p><p>So he concentrated on how the blue couch reflected the sunlight pouring out of the window they hadn’t been able to close lately — Rover had jammed it shut from outside and Dirk was the only one around who could open it without breaking all of his bones.<br/>
(Not naming the only other person with "very feeble osseous matter".)</p><p>“It’s just- I have to know more about these survivors, Jack. It is the only way we’ll be able to get in contact with other humans.”<br/>
She’s resumed tracing circles again, this time on the black canvas of the radio, probably hoping that it would pick up some kind of signal.<br/>
<br/>
June visibly sighed, as if Jack had opposed to what she had said – which he hadn’t; before continuing: “Look, maybe we’ll get to my parents faster. To <em>Quint’s</em> parents.”<br/>
Jack didn’t know what to say to that. He knew that it was important to June, and that somehow made it important to all of them, but there wasn’t much to add to a valid argument.<br/>
<br/>
So they sat there, in complete silence. Ignoring all the annoying problems that they didn't have answers to, that plagued their minds, solely focusing on the radio.<br/>
<br/>
The thoughtful silence somehow made Jack understand that the apocalypse wasn’t as easy for her as it was for him. For anybody really, with a family. Not a foster-care system that made you move home every year. If you had family before the world ended, the worst part wouldn’t be the apocalypse— it would be losing the only biological connection you had. That could make anyone feel extremely dejected.</p><p>Jack took a deep breath, one that was still clearly audible to the girl sitting next to him- which confused her for just one second.<br/>
“I’m sorry.”<br/>
<br/>
He started it out with a direct apology, not sure what June’s reaction would be.</p><p>“I’m sorry for not understanding how important this is to you, and I’m sorry for being so close-minded about reaching out to those people in New York.”<br/>
She slowly turned her head to look him in the eye, but upon seeing him looking at the ground, she decided not to make eye-contact.<br/>
“It’s okay- you don’t have to worry about it. I know it might be really hard for you right now, but we’re here, to support you all the way.”</p><p>June knew that what she had said had brought some sort of impact on him, because he turned his head towards her in an abrupt way, and she saw his eyes sparkling – not with tears, with some kind of inner happiness that only radiated when he was out, fighting monsters, or having fun with his best friends.</p><p>"You know; when we find our families again", she swallowed before continuing, "I don't think we'll stop staying in-touch. I mean, we <em>freaking</em> defeated so many monsters, and we built this amazing 'tree-fortress of doom'. You really think any of us are going to give up all of that?"</p><p>Jack knew for once that only someone as inane as him would forget all the times they had had here. June was right; the key was to <em>stay in-touch. </em>If you made a friend for life, you'd give up anything to make them happy, even if a part of their happiness causes your own loss.</p><p>He slowly nodded, like he was processing tough information. “Yeah— thanks June. You know, you make it all seem easy and reliable and simple. I don’t really know what I’d do without you.”</p><p>"I guess I wouldn't know either. You'd probably have ended up in some kind of sticky situation with Dirk or Quint.", which made them both smile, but they quickly hid their satisfaction before it shone right through.</p><p>Jack then and there knew that it was communication that had brought them together; even if June hadn't intentionally kept her sweater out to dry or if Dirk hadn't purposely annoyed them all through 7th grade. If he was going to do something he didn't have any control over, he felt like it had to happen <em>now</em>.</p><p>So, without taking a deep breath- which surprised even him - he just cut straight to the chase.</p><p>"I like you, June. I- I always have."</p><p>The words were out before he could stop himself, and they were both found turning an extreme shade of red- mainly June, which he added to his list of surprises of the week. What he had said made everything awkward but still in place: <em>all at the same time</em>.<br/>
<br/>
June didn’t know what happened next, but she just found herself sitting conveniently in front of him, staring into his eyes that made her feel totally <em>ecstatic</em> and <em>lost</em>— and he was staring right into hers, which gave him the <em>good</em> kind of butterflies and complete unawareness of his surroundings.<br/>
And very suddenly, she leaned in and gave him a kiss on the cheek, not wanting to make herself look apprehensive or nervous, just giving him a sign that she actually didn’t mind him at all.</p><p>“I- I like you too, Jack.” her slight smile turning into one of pure joy, which was returned almost automatically.</p><p>Jack didn’t know what happened next either, except that she was sitting there on the couch with him for a while- not knowing how long, because they didn't keep the time- and her head, not on the surface of the radio, but on his shoulder.<br/>
And he didn’t mind at all– because it was <em>June</em>.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>aw, i think i did their relationship some justice.<br/>i really hope you enjoyed it. i'm just starting out, so i'd like feedback or constructive-criticism. </p><p> </p><p>thank you :)<br/>gaya</p></blockquote></div></div>
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